The dangers of working so close to a Face Shop location is this right here. The new Mask.Lab Anti-Aging Foil Face Mask ($4.00 CDN)! With a current promotion of Buy 7 masks, get 3 free, I dove in head first and bought three of each of the new Mask.Lab innovations with the foil mask being the first one I tried on!

Wow, looking through my nail posts I do a lot of stuff with striping tape for two reasons: one, it makes me look like I've got my life together and two, it's such a quick and pretty way to put together a nail design! Today I am relishing in the CND Creative Play Sunset Bash collection and thinking of more ways to play with the shades in this collection because if you haven't seen swatches already, the shades are summer appropriate, but not neon bright. I actually find the collection quite sophisticated and wearable for any season.

Fall has dropped and this is actually the first Fall item that I have decided to use because it seemed fitting for summer as well! Metallics are not going away and Dior is making sure of that with the limited edition release of the Dior Metalizers! Coming in seven ultra pigmented shades, these Metalizers can be worn on both the eyes and lips and have a creamy, long-wearing formula that will still metallic for as long as you need.

Everything in Korean beauty is just so cute that I have to restrain myself quite often when it comes to purchases. It's always the packaging the gets me and when it came to these Too Cool for School Jelly Blushers and their little plaid metal boxes, I just could not say no!

I still have incredibly mixed feelings about Kat Von D. I really liked Sandra Bullock and while we have no idea what may have been going on with her and Jesse James, I can't help but think of that drama when I think of KVD. When it comes to her makeup brand and what she has done in the world of cosmetics, I have to say I am impressed. She was one of the first brands that I tried that had edgier shades of lipsticks and eyeshadows and I truly believe that KVD remains heavily involved with her brand despite how massive it has gotten.

While I have never been a die hard fan of KVD, her Tattoo Liner in Trooper is something I always use and have in my collection simply because it just IS one of the best liquid liners on the market. If this were ever discontinued, I would probably be just as crazed as the fans who 8 years ago were devastated when Saint and Sinner fragrances were discontinued. Both of these scents have been brought back to life this summer with the ONLY change being completely revamped gothic-inspired bottles.

Now, this was a manicure that I felt I could still see even with the lights out! Continuing on with the Cirque Vice Collection, I wanted to put all of these bright shades together somehow, but lemme tell ya that neon nail polish shades aren't the easiest to pair off with each other because each shade is as equally loud as the next! Taping seemed like a safe technique to try and although I wasn't too happy with the final results, people I ran into thought this was a fun little manicure for summer which led me to sharing it here with you!

I am not quite done with summer yet and even though Fall is slowly making its way into my wardrobe and makeup, I find myself still reaching for sunscreen, products to enhance my tan and my ever-rotating collection of TKEES sandals. Even though my last hair review for Live Clean didn't quite work out, these summer beauty products have been pretty awesome.

I always feel like I need a pick me up in the middle of the week regardless of whether I'm working a "true week" of Monday to Friday or something more random. I think I am happiest when I am able to have two new manis a week since I tend to get bored quite quickly by Thursday and let's face it, there are too many polishes out there waiting for a home on my nails!

Today's is inspired by @flowidity108 again and is deceivingly simple looking. I have been dying to do a black and white manicure and this is the first of two designs that have been on my nail art bucket list!

Guess what? These brushes are made with REAL unicorn hair! Yeah, no. As much as we want "real" ingredients in our food and beauty products, I actually prefer synthetic bristles to actual brush hair just because I feel they are a bit lower maintenance in terms of cleaning them and keeping them free of bacteria. It also means that I can have brushes that look like THIS. This 7 piece Unicorn Makeup Brush Set*from Beauty Bigbang is the price of two tall caramel macchiattos and they are among the prettiest brushes I own. Almost immediately after I instagrammed storied these brushes, I made a place for them on my now VERY full makeup counter because these babies were getting used right away!

I love summer brights, but I don't often wear neons because some can be fairly high maintenance when it comes to making them look good. I don't believe in wearing a white base to enhance a neon's intensity and a neon formula can be tricky with many applying unevenly. I didn't think I'd be wearing a neon this summer until the Cirque Colors Vice Collection*. Cirque is one of those indie polish brands that I treat like gold in my collection. Companies like Cirque inspire the mainstream brands and when Nail Polish Canada started carrying their polishes, my wallet breathed a sigh of relief that I no longer would have to worry about the 30% US exchange on my credit card!

The packaging is what got me to pick up the Nannette de Gaspe Face Masque. I was in the skincare section of Holt Renfrew on my lunch break (NEVER a good idea) and saw what looked like pieces of art, but lo and behold it was a DRY SHEET MASK. The first I had ever seen! I raved about the Charlotte Tilbury Dry Sheet Maska few months ago and was floored, BUT in actuality Nannette de Gaspe had come out last year. Both brands utilize the same dry sheet mask technology from Quebec-based lab Biomod, but of course I had to pick up this $145 luxury skincare item to see what the fuss was all about! What I will say is that at the time I got it, CT had not released her mask yet so this was the ONLY dry sheet mask I knew of! #justified

The quickest cheat to livening up any manicure is to use some form of a stud or sequin. They are fast and easy to apply and can last the length of your manicure if applied correctly and sealed in with top coat. You guys all know that Born Pretty is my jam when it comes to nail art supplies, but recently I was introduced to another Asian website BeautyBigBang that has fairly reasonable pricing, worldwide free shipping and similar product selection albeit on a smaller scale. They have those super cool mermaid brushes as well as a number of beauty gadgets that anyone would love (LED eyelashes!) I actually quite like the site as it is quite a bit cleaner and more smooth than a lot of these Asian shopping sites and was happy to shop and find some new goodies to add to my cart!

I haven't posted nearly as many summer looks this season and I have to kick myself a lot of the time because there are some collections that I am definitely discovering far too late like the mark. Havana Sol Collection! Not only do the bath and body products smell like some of the best things I've smelled since fresh McDonald's fries, but the makeup collection is so perfect for getting you in the summer party mood! I, on the other hand, had to clean and get groceries while I was experimenting with the collection so the only people that got to enjoy this look were the meat and deli folks at Loblaws!

This did not work for me. Normally, we all save our blogs to usually write about things we love and adore, but this is something that I tried so hard to love because why? It seemed to literally work for everyone else. I adore Live Clean products and their bath products fare better than their hair products for me because of how chemically processed my hair is. Now, that rainbow/unicorn hair is in I figure I can't possibly be the only one who struggles to keep my hair happy, can I?

Live Clean has some pretty awesome botanical-based haircare with the Live Clean Biotin Extra Body Shampoo and Conditioner* being released earlier this year. This is a restorative series made with biotin, ginseng and lavender (all three are near the top of the ingredients list!) to increase hair thickness, shine, volume and overall manageability. We all know how good biotin is for hair and nails and while ginseng and lavender restore moisture and give shine. Sounds PERFECT for what was at the time my green and blue hair, right?

I know I have done a fair number of flower manicures this summer, but it's sort of my cheat way of using multiple colours when I can't decide on just one or two shades which happens more often than you would think! Oftentimes, I just have handfuls of polish and I sit there and wish I had more fingers to wear them on!

Today's Mani Monday is with some new Avon Gel Finish polishes for Fall, but since I'm not ready to call it quits yet on summer, dotticure flowers with Fall colours seemed a fair compromise.

This is a long awaited weekend as we have been very short-staffed at work which means I have been banking some very long days. Thank God things will be somewhat back to normal next week, but I feel absolutely spent. Normally, I would have headed outside to beachier pastures, but because of the horrible wildfire situation in BC, air quality in Vancouver is currently WORSE than that of Beijing so my husband's asthma has been acting up and even my throat and eyes have been a bit irritated from the ash that has been in the air. So, instead of trudging out to the beach, I will have to settle for staying in and occasionally popping my head out, but that doesn't change what are some absolute essentials from Rexall for comfortably enjoying the rest of this (hopefully less hazy) summer!

I hate cleaning my makeup brushes and I know I'm not alone in that. The thing is, once I get going, I love seeing the water go from cream/pink to clear and I love seeing my brushes go back to their creamy shade of white. Though I generally lay them flat to dry or leaning against a wall with the bristles encased in Brush Guards, the bristles usually need re-fluffing or they fall over. Enter a surprisingly useful set of beauty gadgets - the Brush Board and Brush Bar to stir things up in a good way!

In my last post, I'm sure you could feel my excitement for the new Sinful Colors Pride collection through your screens and today I am back to share more nail art and glittery goodness! The Pride Collection, in collaboration with international singer and songwriter Era Istrefi, has seven glitters and one creme polish. Today's focus is on the shade Frenzy* because this is an especially dense purple and blue microglitter that just looks really cool on its own. If you would like to see the other shades in this collection, check out my previous blog post (link).

I actually had to look up when I first started using MaskerAide masks and it was in 2012?! Five years feels like a lifetime ago and I'm happy to say that I still actively use MaskerAide sheet masks with my favourite one being the All Nighter for its peppermint scent! Over the years, MaskerAide has expanded their love of masks to hydrogel patches for the eyes (love these for traveling!) and now the lips! The Tell Me 'Pout It Hydrating Lip Mask* is the answer to getting the perfect pout for that ultra daring pigmented matte lippie you have been dying to try or just giving your lips the boost they need without going under the needle!

Hard Candy is so nostalgic for me and I am happy that they are still around because reading about them in the late 90s issues of Seventeen magazine was always a monthly highlight for teenage Jayne. I wasn't really allowed to wear makeup until I was 17 or 18 so being able to play freely with whatever the hell I want now makes me SO HAPPY. No more strict Asian parents asking you what's on your face and what the boys at your school will think! It's ok though, I may not have had makeup, but I had every Nintendo gaming system from 1988 until the Wii!